Energy Policy

As Global Markets Cool, Investors Find Warmth In Central Asia's Infrastructure

December 17, 2018

The long-anticipated global market correction may now be upon us. Worldwide stocks extend their losses over the weekend, leaving little room for optimism of a macroeconomic rebound. Chinese goods-exports growth slowed to 5.4% year-over-year in November, down from 15.6% in October.  S&P futures are now down 10% on the year and the Dow Jones is still 2,400 points below its October high.

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Kazatomprom IPO With Astana International Financial Center (AIX) Shows Global Appetite For Uranium

November 29, 2018

Some say nuclear energy is the stepdaughter of the energy industry. Many investors beg to differ. On November 14, Kazatomprom (KAP), the state-owned uranium production company of Kazakhstan made history by becoming the first initial public offering of a large Kazakh company in more than a decade.

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Oil Markets Yawn As Iran Sanctions Come Into Effect

November 22, 2018

A U.S. economic sledgehammer is falling on the Islamic Republic of Iran and global energy markets couldn’t care less – at least for now. Brent crude oil futures are up a meager $0.62 from their $72.61 open – bringing the benchmark to $73.23 just 12 hours into the first official day of renewed sanctions. Brent’s American cousin, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), is trading up $0.56 to $63.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Charging Up: Battery Storage Investments To Reach $620 Billion By 2040

November 22, 2018

The market for energy storage is rapidly gaining momentum around the world. The growing cost-competitiveness of carbon-free energy sources, coupled with improving technology and more environmentally conscious government policies are driving a demand boom for batteries in both the transportation and utility power sectors. But just how big is this boom expected to be?

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Russia's Nord Stream II Pipeline Is Ukraine's Worst Nightmare

October 23, 2018

Ukraine is Russia’s gateway into European gas markets. Of the 193 billion cubic meters (bcm) Russia’s state-owned Gazprom pumped westward in 2017 – nearly 40 percent of Europe’s total supply – 93 bcm transited via Ukraine. Moscow, however, wants to change that, diminishing Ukraine’s transit role. Kyiv, on the other hand, hopes to maintain the current arrangement, as transit revenues contribute some USD 2-3 billion annually.

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Ariel Cohen: $100 million will not change Armenia's lagging behind Azerbaijan in terms of arsenal

October 23, 2018

Few days earlier, the Armenian side has approved the deal with Russia on weapons supply to Armenia through a $200 million deal. The Armenian government approved the first $ 100 million loan package, which will be extended to Armenia for 20 years.Some experts viewed it as another provocation by Yerevan ahead of the peace talks, while others argued that the deal hardly gives Armenia more power than those of Azerbaijan.

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When Fear Trumps Markets: Is The $100/bbl Oil Inevitable?

October 16, 2018

Is $100 a barrel (bbl) inevitable? Brent crude is now trading at $82/bbl, a four-year high, and most analysts believe it won’t stop there. The geopolitical and global financial climate is certainly hospitable to rising oil prices: Saudi Arabia's Jamal Khashoggi crisis, the specter of Iran sanctions, turmoil in heavy oil-producing states like Venezuela and Libya, and strong economic growth in China and India are driving a 1.5 million barrel per day (b/d) rise in global oil demand.

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Kazakhstan is opting for nuclear engagement, not deterrence

October 23, 2017

With North Korea wreaking havoc by testing nuclear weapons and missiles, and with Iranian nuclear program becoming once again the focus of U.S. foreign policy, Washington is searching for solutions to both crises. It is important to keep in mind that there are alternative, safer nuclear energy policies. Pyongyang and Tehran should take note and consider pursuing peaceful nuclear options.It can be done.

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Dr. Cohen Featured in Article on Yemen

March 30, 2017

With world headlines focused on North Korea’s nuclear tests, Russia’s ties to the Trump administration and landmark elections in France, it’s easy to forget about three ethnic conflicts that show no sign of going away in 2017.The ongoing civil war in Yemen, the continuing massacre of Rohingya Muslim refugees in Myanmar and escalating bloodshed in South Sudan — the world’s newest country —

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Dr. Cohen on BBC World News commenting on the meeting between President Trump and Chancellor Angela Merkel

March 20, 2017

BBC March 20, 2017

The Trump-Putin Honeymoon is Over

March 1, 2017

Newsweek

March 1, 2017

By Ariel Cohen

This article first appeared on the Atlantic Council site.As Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster takes over President Donald Trump’s National Security Council, conducting a bottom-up review and developing a Russia policy at the NSC, Pentagon and State Department should be a top priority for the administration.Russia has resumed a quasi–Cold War posture.

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Interview: The Importance of Azerbaijan for Russia and the USA

February 20, 2017

СВСЗнаковая Встреча в Баку В связи со встречей руководителей генштабов США и России международные эксперты отмечают все более возрастающую роль Азербайджана, как важного и надежного партнера. И не случайно, именно Баку стал площадкой для столь долгожданной и значимой речи.

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Dr. Cohen's Comments on NATO, Baltics, and WWIII

January 25, 2017

Komsolmolskaya Pravda"Американский политолог: Батальоны НАТО в Прибалтике – это ловушка"By Aleksei DenisenkovJanuary 25, 2017 Название дискуссии, которая прошла накануне в БФУ имени Канта, звучала угрожающе: «Россия и НАТО у красной черты. Почему на Западе считают, что Третья мировая война начнется в Прибалтике».

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Dr. Cohen's Comments on Baltic Region in Kaliningrad

January 25, 2017

Regnum January 25, 2017 "Мы можем ожидать переориентацию прибалтийских элит", 25 января 2017, 10:47 — REGNUM  С победой Дональда Трампа переориентация элит Прибалтики может иметь место, если эти элиты почувствуют, что ни США, ни ЕС — прежде всего, Германия — особенно их не поддерживают.

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Dr. Cohen on NATO's Withdrawal from the Baltics

January 24, 2017

24 Vesti Kaliningrad"Большая часть военных НАТО вернётся из Прибалтики и Польши обратно на свои базы"

January 24, 2017

Dr. Cohen on Kazakhstan's Role in Syria

January 21, 2017

Telekanal Khabar"А.Коэн: Казахстан стал центральным игроком в процессе урегулирования ситуации в Сирии"

January 21, 2017

Dr. Cohen Commenting on Tillerson

December 15, 2016

Forbes

Exxon's Sanctioned Russian Oil Deal Threatens Rex Tillerson As Trump's Secretary Of State

Kenneth Rapoza

December 15, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump wants him. But many Russia-phobic Republicans rind arguably not a single Democratic in the Senate will vote for Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.Tillerson announced his retirement Wednesday as CEO of Exxon after 41 years at the oil giant following Trump's nominating him to replace John Kerry at the State Department.

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Georgian Dream Meets Reality: The Coalition's First Term and Future Reform

October 14, 2016

Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., and Ivan Benovic

October 2016

Executive Summary

Concluding its first four years in power, the Georgian Dream coalition government has reformed and changed many aspects of Georgia’s public life. The coalition has not only continued along the path toward reforms initiated by Mikheil Saakashvili’s.

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Russia Is Not Nine Feet Tall

April 1, 2016

Huffington Post

April 1, 2016

By Ariel Cohen

As Russia has boycotted the global Nuclear Security summit hosted by President Barack Obama in Washington, DC,

March 31-April 1, 2016, questions arise as to the second nuclear superpower’s policies and capabilities. Can Moscow afford to stay out in the cold, when the leaders of over 50 countries decide most urgent questions of international relations — nuclear security and terrorism —

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United States and Canada Must Jointly Develop North American Energy Market

March 25, 2016

Atlantic Council

March 25, 2016

By Ariel Cohen

Falling oil prices are a major challenge for oil revenue-dependent markets, including Venezuela, Russia, and Iran. But closer to the United States, Canada, which is heavily dependent on oil exports, is also suffering.Estimated Canadian oil reserves sit at 172 billion barrels. Russia, in comparison, only has approximately eighty billion barrels in reserves.

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Why TANAP/TAP a better alternative than Turkish Stream

January 27, 2016

Trend News Agency

January 27, 2016

By Aygun Badalova‍

The Trans Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), being realized within the Southern Gas Corridor project, aimed at the the transportation of the Caspian gas to Europe, provide a better alternative than Russia’s Turkish Stream project, Ariel Cohen, Nonresident Senior Research Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center and Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center believes.

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Iranian gas industry to require massive investments to meet European demands

January 26, 2016

Trend News Agency

January 26, 2016

By Elena Kosolapova

The Iranian gas industry will require massive investments to meet European and global demand, Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center and Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Ariel Cohen said in his report obtained by Trend.“Only 160 billion cubic meters of gas are produced annually [in Iran], due to technological and financial constraints caused by domestic mismanagement...

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Saudi-Iranian Crisis, China’s Economic Slide Set Stage for Perfect Storm in the Oil Market

January 5, 2016

The Atlantic Council

January 5, 2016

By Ariel Cohen

The deepening rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran may have dire consequences for global oil markets because the kingdom’s Eastern Province, where the Shia are in the majority, produces most of its oil. Production would suffer if Iran were to foment unrest among this population.

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Russia's Quarrel With Turkey Is Distracting—and Dangerous

December 3, 2015

The National Interest

December 3, 2015

By Ariel Cohen

De-escalation is crucial in order to restore focus on the Syrian war itself.As the world’s leaders gathered for the COP 21 climate change summit in Paris, a more immediate and grave threat should have preoccupied their attention. Two regional powers, Russia and Turkey, have come to blows for the first time since the end of the Cold War.

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REPORT: Developing a Western Energy Strategy for the Black Sea Region and Beyond

November 18, 2015

Atlantic Council

November 18, 2015

By Dr. Ariel Cohen

In Developing a Western Energy Strategy for the Black Sea Region and Beyond, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center and Global Energy Center Ariel Cohen addresses the urgent need for a European policy on Black Sea energy following Russia's annexation of Crimea.

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